Music reviews and interviews on all things pop and rock as well as everything in between

The Singles Bar #9

KESHA delivers a powerful and poignant performance of Praying at this years Grammy awards! KESHA has delivered a powerful and moving performance of her hit anthem Praying at the 2018 Grammy Awards. Standing in solidarity with the #MeToo movement, Kesha was joined onstage by a star studded cast which included Cyndi Lauper, Camila Cabello, Julia Michaels, Bebe Rexha and Andra Day.

In a week that has seen them crowned one of the 10 ‘Hottest Bands of 2018’ by Kerrang! Magazine, South Wales 5 piece DREAM STATEhave today released their brand new single and video In This Hell, after a world exclusive first play on the Radio 1 Rock Show yesterday.

From vocalist CJ Gilpin: “In This Hell is the representation of the transitional period we experience when we want to make a change in ourselves, and change isn’t always easy. We wanted to write a song that conveyed the chaos of the mind, and the storm before the calm that follows on from White Lies.”

Kylie’s new video for her single Dancingsomehow re-imagines Ms Minogue in collaboration with Dolly Parton on the set of The Day of the Dead – with a depiction of a 1970’s Nashville motel room thrown into the mix.

Dancing’ was chosen as the first single for many reasons, not least that it brilliantly illustrates the theme of the album, much of which could be described as cathartic. The single itself presents the view that life isn’t always a bed of roses so we should enjoy the sparkling moments when we have them. As Kylie herself says:

“Life’s all just moments which all join up – some of them are great, and some of them are less than sparkling – but ultimately I wanted this video to reflect the celebratory nature of the song”.

Andrew W.K.continues his quest to reach ‘pure party euphoria’ with the release of Ever Again, the second single from his upcoming album, You’re Not Alone out March 2 via Sony Music Australia.

Andrew describes the song as, “A fantasy in which I imagine what it would be like to actually know the meaning of life – an ecstatic nightmare in which I’ve returned from the brink of annihilation, having clawed the Ultimate Insight from out of its hiding spot, and am finally able to solve the riddle of existence while I cry out in triumphant elation. The desire to possess this total internalized clarity – not only knowing what life really means, but actually feeling the Truth from the inside out – is a mirage for the mind, but a reality for the heart. But coming from a place of confusion and despair, perhaps simply having faith in the possibility of ‘the answer to everything’ is enough to see us through those frequent moments of painful disorientation. I’m not singing from the perspective of someone who has found this ultimate-answer-to-everything, but as someone who’s dreaming about how incredible it would feel if I had. And in a mysterious and strangely uplifting way, it seems that a belief in the possibility of an absolute Truth gives us access to something quintessential and crucial for our own survival – it connects us with a part of ourselves that’s both primal and divine – an empowering, enlightening, and energizing force of unyielding and overwhelming feeling. A feeling that transcends emotion. A feeling that overwhelms all thought and language. A feeling that can’t be understood, but can only be deeply and joyously experienced. And thus, celebrated in worshipful glee. Partying is born.”

Scottish electro-pop trio CHVRCHESare excited to today share their new single Get Out. The song is their first new single since the 2015 release of their critically acclaimed second album Every Open Eye.

Get Out is produced by the 2017 and 2018 GRAMMY Producer Of The Year, Greg Kurstin (Adele, Sia). Speaking about the new single, the band says, “Working with Greg was so different to what we’d done before, but it also felt so comfortable and like he’d been in our band forever. He doesn’t try to make you write a certain kind of song. He just listens and then Jedi puppet masters the best work out of you. The opening synth riff of ‘Get Out’ was the first thing to emerge on our first day in the studio with him.”

Almost three weeks after the release of their acclaimed debut album Idiot Proverbs, Melbourne outfit Tiny Little Houses have unveiled the video for their current single and band-favourite, Short Hair, available to watch now on Apple Music. The track is the third single from their debut LP, which the group will be taking on the road as part of their highly-anticipated national album tour in February and March across Ballarat, Melbourne, Hobart, Wollongong, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide. Just announced are the supports for the tour, including Eliza & the Delusionals, Rathammock and The Spring Peaks across various shows, outlined below.

Inspiration for the chorus of current single, the agitated introvert hymn Short Hair, came from an unlikely source, according to lead singer, songwriter and founder, Caleb Karvountzis:

“The chorus popped out of nowhere when I remembered my girlfriend’s uncle told me this story about a guy he knew who was a little uptight. They used to tease him and say that he liked to ‘let his short hair down’. I thought that was such a funny image and I had told him I’d work it into a song one day. That line worked so well in the chorus that I finished the rest of the song in minutes. Ultimately, it’s about feeling uncomfortable at a party. I wasn’t a very cool kid growing up.”

Ravensburgis track two taken from our debut full length record Bad Habits for Bare Bones, released in 2017 on Resist Records. The lyrical theme of Ravensburg delves into the shock and fallout that occurs when our lives throw a complete curveball at us, and despite what we may think, we lack any ability to control what can’t be changed.

Deep Pockets is the new single from the UK’s Gaz Coombes. It continues his venture into modern, electronic pop/rock and it’s the combination of Coombes’ dedication to musical reinvention and shapeshifting. The new self-directed, filmed and edited video clip features Gaz taking trippy Uber pool journeys from the back of a car in Los Angeles.

Coombes says of the clip; “I shot the “Deep Pockets” video on a shoestring, mostly in LA at the end of 2017. The idea came from the lyrics & memories of weird night drives over the years – a never-ending car journey laced with paranoia, intermittent hallucinations and unexpected carpooling. I liked the idea of getting together with some fun, interesting people in a car at night, filming it all and just seeing what happened. It worked out well. They all did great.”

Acclaimed singer-songwriter-producer Bazzi(pronounced Bah-Zee) has unveiled his awesome new video for the viral hit Mine, which has over 33 million world-wide streams. Built upon a simmering beat and sultry melody, Mine is out now via all DSP’s and is racing up the streaming charts here and abroad, debuting in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart at #56 this week

“There’s a genuine feeling in my music,” says Bazzi. “It’s a mix of everything I grew up on—from rock to pop. You hear the guitars and real drum sounds with modern day elements and weird samples. It’s odd and different. It’s got a swag and flow, but you’re in this fantasy world at the same time.”

Hansaa, aka Vinay Matta, is back, alongside his trusty collaborators soso, with a delicate new single Nights, out today, February 2. Featuring exciting newcomer Emma Sameth on vocals, Nights builds upon Hansaa’s intricate, diverse body of work and further exemplifies his keen ear for high quality electro alt pop. Nights has also been given an immersive visual treatment, with an effortlessly cool video directed by Julien Pircher.

Nights is a little more experimental and slightly heavier to what we’re used to from Hansaa and soso. Emma Sameth’s fragile vocal sits carefully atop characteristically sharp production at the hands Hansaa and soso, with LA-duo soso bringing the organic elements – the guitar and bass guitar, contrasted with Hansaa’s atmospheric sound design. The cool, unbothered ambiance allows room for atypical sounds and melodic hooks to breathe here – but when everything is pulled back to earth by a simple piano chord, or Sameth’s intensely human voice, it all feels so right. Hansaa can’t wait to release the track, enthusing, “Everything about Nights is awesome, from the vocals, to the mix, to the arrangement, sound design, mood, textures, ambience and the experimental pop aspect of it…it’s about longing for someone that you’ll never see in your life again.”

It’s time to get Stateside! The Brisbane five piece are today dropping their brand new video for single NEONahead of their Naive Tour, alongside pals Stuck Out.

The track Neon is from their highly successful 2017 EP Naive and features singer Erin in an escape from a controlling boyfriend – she finally finds freedom in a cheekily stolen car. The rest of the band make cameo appearances throughout the clip and they rip through the song together in the garage as well.

In a world gone mad, a nationwide scandal has emerged where people are now trying to Ban the Beers. With less than no experience, The Bennies garner the support of the people and are forced to enter the slimey world of Australian politics. Change is coming. There will be mistakes. Don’t let anyone kill your dreams.

That is the message behind The Bennies’ new single Dreamkillerswhich comes with one hell of an epic video featuring the band on the campaign trail. Shout out to the team that helped with the vid: Thomas Elliott, Ben Anderson, Josh Hanson, Josh Kerr and Charlie Jepson.

Dreamkillers is taken from Natural Born Chillers, The Bennies’ latest album out today on Pool House Records / Remote Control.

To celebrate the huge step forward Racketthave released their new single Alive; a bouncing, existential banger undercut by buzzing synth and running bass. Alive is a truly existential track tackling themes of material mortality and the infinitely evolving attention of popular culture; all wrapped in the infection, hard hitting pop-rock Rackett has refined to a point!

“Alive is about the material reincarnation of oneself. Alive celebrates the life and death cycle of an adopted trend and empowers you to re-decide your identity and to let go of the past,” said vocalist and guitarist Rebecca Callander.

Alive was truly an independent effort for the band, the track written, recorded and produced by Rackett at Forces & Fury Studios owned by drummer Astrid Holz and vocalist, guitarist Kat Ayala.

“When deciding what recording process would best serve this song and the band’s overall sound, we realized that we had all the skills and resources to record and produce this entirely ourselves. Of course, we had our doubts in the beginning but we pushed forward and created what we feel is our best record so far,” said Ayala.

GUM, the moniker of Tame Impala/Pond multi-instrumentalist Jay Watson today returns with new music in the form of double single release The Underdog and S.I.A. Lifted from the forthcoming record The Underdog, further details of Watson’s fourth solo LP are set to drop next month.

Described as “an endlessly flexible musical polymath,” GUM’s ability to traverse multiple genres is evident in his latest sonic offerings. Mixed and recorded himself, with additional drums at Kevin Parker’s home studio, GUM describes ‘The Underdog’ themes as “evoking that sensation of triumph and that weird parallel universe feeling you get when the person that’s not supposed to win, does.”